Elevator-gate-controlling device.



R. PITT.

ELEVATOR GATE CONTROLLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 0Ec.9. 1914.

Patented Dec. 4, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

z? I F 5 4Q v 6 m d F\(DJQ I" o R. PITT.

ELEVATOR GATE CONTROLLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-9.1914.

ELEVATOR GATE CONTROLLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MM, 1914.

LMQAWU Patented m. 4,1917.

3 SHEET8-SHEET 3| n 1 JHIH IHHIIIHIIH extende d.

. wes m m @rrm RAFFQBD m r ew RQCHEPLRNEW 193K:

nrinvnron-earn-conrnonmnG DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, RArroRn Prr'r, acitizen of the United States, and 'aresidetnt of New Rochelle, Iestchestercounty, State of New York, have invented [certain new and useful Improvements in. Elevator Gatec or i trolling Devices, of which the fOllQWlliQlS a specification. p a a This invention relates to improvements in elevator gate controllingidevices.

By the use of my invention 1 provide a device. Which is so automatieally controlled by the movement of the elevator car that agate or the like which may, during the stay of the elevator car at its properposition. at the fioor, be collapsed or moved laterally and:

latched in collapsed position, andavliich' may then be swung.aroundfpivotally into full-open position to enable thensethe full-width of the. gatewayor'shaft, and be also latched in thatposition, and will, so

tended position until the elevator car again reaches its proper position at thejfloor. Another featureof my'inrention is the provision in a device ofthe character specified of a pair of toggle arms or. levers, one of which arms or levers has a pivotalconnection at oneof its ends withha movable portion of the gate or the like, and the other,

lever has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with'the door frame or other relatively fixedpoint, the ends of said levers opposite to the aforesaidpivotal connections being so,

disposed as to abut against one another and to have a pivotal connection with each other, in combination with a springl'ocated at the said intermediate connectionand adapted normally to force the levers intoeXtended position to close thegate or the like; and

means releasable by the, movement of the elevator car to a predetermined position for automatically locking one of s'aid levers in like. i

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a

to' its extended positlon position tolock the gamer the Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 4, 191 F7, Application m December 9, 1914. seri l no, s7ai94. i

Figure l is a side elevation of the gate embodying my invention; v a a g. 2lis a fragmentary plan View of the gate in extended position;

Fig, 8 is an enlarged detail similar to Fig. 2, the gate being in collapsed or latched .position andswung pivotally and latched in position'in full-open position atright angles Fig. 4 s. a side elevation of the gate in the same'position indicated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of'the meansfor retainingthe gate in collapsed and in full-open position, the view being on the line 5%5 offFig. 2 with the gatein extended position; i

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the rear portion of the lower track for the gate;

Fig'; 6 is anenlarged detail of a portion of a car and theactuating shoe thereon;

Fig. 7 is aview in elevation of the said actuating shoe and portion of the car taken 7 at right angles to Fig. 6.

Referring now to these drawings 1 is a closure for-a shaftopening which, as shown, isin the form of an extensible and collapsiblew gate of any suitable pattern and is guidedat its top into collapsed and extended position by meansof rollers. 2 running upon a trackf3 extending transverse the shaft; opening and preferably has a connection at its bottom with a slot 3 having an areshaped portion 3? at its rear end. Said track 3, as shown, is composed of two parts, the part 3 being fixed and the part 3" being adaptedto swingpivotally in relation thereto, so that when the gate 1 is fully collapsed, as shown in Fig, 4, all the rollers 2 W11]. be mounted upon and carried by the movable track section 3" so that the gate may then be swung bodily into full open position at right angles to the fixed section 3 of the 45 pivoted together at one end as at 6 and i one of said levers being'pivoted at its opposite end 5 to a movable portion of the gate,

and the opposite end of the other lever being pivoted as at P to a relatively fixed point,

a centrae il spr 7 be arrang d a the junction of said two arms as to exert pressure to force the said two arms and consequently the gate normally intoextended relation. As illustrated, the spring 7 is connected at one end in an aperture 8 in the arm or lever at, is guided by a series of T- shaped pivoted guide bars 9 in aciroular path around the pivotal point 6 and is connected at its opposite end to the arm 5 through an aperture 10.

' Suitable means for locking the levers in extendedposition is provided which look ing means is normally retained in looking position and is released by the movement of the carto its proper position at a floor. As shown, the end of the lever dis extended as at 1' beyond the pivotal point 4* and the lower corner of such extended portion is preferably cut down so that this'cut down portion will preferably assume a horizontal position when'the gate is in extended positlon. Su1tably mounted contlguous to the said extended portion 4: and preferablyon the rear pivotal but relatively stationary;

upright member of the gate, I provide a supporting bracket 25 having a horizontally extending shelf 25 provided with an aperture or slot 25 through which the end of the lever extends when the gate is in collapsed position, and above which the cut ofi portion ofthe rearward extension of the lever is positioned when the gate is 111 its extended position- 'Pivotally mounted on a pivot 14 supported on the horizontal shelf 25 is a lock plate 26 adapted to be pressed beneath said extended portion e of the lever 4 by I a means of one leg 13 of a double acting spring 18 when the gate is in extended position, so as to prevent the movement of said extended portion through the slot or aperture 25 and-thus tolock the levers and gate 1 in extended position. Said lock plate 26 is normally retained in its locked position but is operatively connected with a bearing or contact stud 20 adapted to engage and be moved by a spring pressed shoe 21 on the side of an elevatorcar 22, whereby when the spring pressed bearing or contact stud 20 is engaged by the spring pressed shoe 21 on the car 22, it will actuate the leg 16 of the fork 17 to engage the lock-plate 26 and move the same out of locking engagement so that the gate may be collapsedor opened.

To retain the gate in collapsed position against the action of the spring 7 I mount at the front edgeof the gate a hook 11 which 4, adapted to engage with a latch 12 pressed 111130 latching engagement by one end 13 of ing or contact stud 20 is in its normal position under the tension of the spring 20*, the leg 16 of thefork 17 will retain the latch 12 in normally released position and the gate will be subject to the action of the spring 7 acting through the levers 4 and 5- leg 16 will be out of engagement with the latch 12 and the leg 13 of the double acting spring 13 will be permitted to press the latch 12 into'latching position. When the gate is collapsed, therefore, 'during thepstay of the car at th fi r it i b releast bly latched in p dP sition; i 1

When, however, the'car leaves its proper position at the floor the action of the spring 20 will cause the fork 17 to beso oscillated nose of said'latch 12 oiitof engagement with" the hook 11 whereupon thegate will again become subject to the action of the sprin 7 acting through the arms 1 and 5 and will be automatically extended into closed position, and the other leg 16' of sa1d fork 17, bemg simultaneously moved out of engagement with the lock-plate 26, will p'ermitthe leg.

13 of the spring 13 to press the same be ncath the extension 4930f the arm 4 and again lock the gate. 7 v

It is frequently desirable in devices of the type hereinabove described to swing thegate path of travel and then automatically extended as above described.

In order to accomplish this result, I pref-f erably, as aforesaid, divide the track 2 into sections 3? and 3" so that allthe rollers of the gate when in collapsed position'will be or thelike after the same is collapsed one] mounted on the tracksectiong and I preferably pivotthe stationary upright member 1 at the rear edge of the gate at its upper and lower ends, as at1"1 and I mount' on said pivoted member a spring 30 abutting at one side agalust a stop 81 and at the other side against a suitable bracket 32 secured to the building, the spring being so arranged as to force the pivoted member 1 to turn on its pivots and swing the track a section 3 and the collapsed gate into a po,'

sition in alinement with the section 3. As illustrated my preferred mechanism for oscillatlng the fork 17 to simultaneously engagethelock-plate 26 and disengagethe latch 12 and vice versa, comprises a slide- 35 vertically movable upon the rear upright member 1 and provided with studs 35 3"5? between whichis arranged an extension of ,the fork 17;

Obviously when the slide 35 moved it downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 5, the leg 16 will engage and move the locking plate 26, from beneaththe extension ttof the lever iandsuch downward move ment will also causeithe leg 16 0f the fork vto disengage ,the rearward extension of the latch 12 and permit it toabe pressed into latching. position by theleg 13 of the spring 13, so that the latch 12 (upon the collapsing of the gate will engage the hook-11 and latch the gate in such collapsed position.

on the other hand, a movement of; the slide backto the position shownv in Fig. 5 will cause the fork 17 to be rocked on-its pivot so that-its leg 16 will disengage the. lock plate 26 so as to permitit to come under the influence of the leg13."v of the spring 13, and such rocking of. thefork will cause the leg 1o of said. fork to engage and move the latch 12 out of engagement with the. hook 11 to, permit the gate to be extended by the spring? and leverssl and;5.

To retain the gate, in full ,open, position I provide a hookoO on the outer side of the gate which engages a movable arm-39 This arm is rocked as hereinafterdescribed and during suchrocking will move, out of en,-

- .gagement with the hook whereupon the spring 30 willact to force the track sectlons into almement.

In order to retain the gateyinits latched collapsed position during; the swinging of the same from" its initial collapsed or folded position to full-open position, and to cause the gate to be unlatched and entended only. when thetrack, sections tLI'Q lIl due alinement, I provide on the said slide. a shelf 36 partially encircling; thepivotal member 1 and which adapted; when the forki17 is in its lowermost position to swingbeneath a fixedeor stationary stud37,isaid stud be,--.

ing, formed integrally with a ,plate 38 secured to the wallof the building (see Fig.

3).. Said shelf and stud, are, as shown, provided with inclined abutting faces 36tr37 adapted to facilitate the movement of the shelf 36 beneath thefixed stud 37;

Suitable means actuated by the movement of the, car to a predetermined position are employed for moving the slide 35 upwardly and downwardly to alternately; engage and disengage the latch 12 and locking plate 26. For this purpose, Ipreferably provide a lever 39 pivoted at 40 on, the plate 38 and having a loose connection at 41 with an .angle lever 42 onwhich the stud 20 is mounted. It will be seen that the arm 42 andstud 20 are normally retained by the spring 20?. in the position. shownin'Fig. 2 and when the movement of the car 22 through i the spring-pressed shoe 21. moves the stud 20 outwardly away from the wall against the action of said spring, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the angle lever 42 will be rocked on its pivot a2 and the horizontal arm ofsaid angle lever 12 (see Figs. 2, 3 and 5) will .rock the lever 39 on its pivot 10, which by reason ofits connection with theslide at 39 where it extends between the shelf 36 and another shelf 36 movethe slide 35 downwardly to rock the fork 17 a to engage and push" the lock-plate 26 out of the path of the extension 4 of the lever 4 and disengagethe latch 12 to permit it to be pressed into latching position.

It will be noted from the foregoing-that I provide spring actuating means for normally releasing the gate latching'devices and that I also employ a spring pressedcontact shoe on the .car. These springpressed devices are so positioned and the springs are of parallel to its normal path of travel; means.

for mounting the closure to swing pivotally from folded to full-open position at an angle to its normal path of movement; means fornormally forcing-the same back to said foldedposition; means for retaining the closure latching means in latching position during the pivotal swinging of the closure and means controlled by the movement of.

the elevator car for releasing said latching means to permit the closing andlocking of the. closure in closed position. a

2. In elevatorgates and the like, the com; bination with a suitable folding closure, of means for normallyforcing the closure into closed position; means for automatically locking the closure in closed position; means for latching the closure in folded position parallel to its normal path of travel; means for mounting the closure to swing pivotally from folded to full-open position at an an gle to its normal path of movement; means for, normally forcing the same back to said folded position; means for retaining the closure latching means in latching position during the pivotal swinging of the closure; means for latching the closure in full-open position; means controlled by the movement of the car for releasing the last-men tioned latchingmeans first; and means'for automatically releasing the first-mentioned latching means when the closure is moved to said folded position to permit the automatic closing and automatic locking of said closure.

3. In a gate controlling device for ele vator gates and the like, the combination with a folding gate, of a track extending transverse the doorway and comprising a plurality of sections, one of such sections being adapted to entirely support the gate in folded position, means for mounting the said supporting track section to swing at an angle to its complementary section, means for normally forcing said two track sections into alinement, means for automatically moving the gate into closed position, means for automatically locking the gate in such closed position, and means carried by the car for releasing said gate locking means when the elevator car reaches a predetermined position.

LIB anclevator gate controlling device, the combination with a folding gate, of a track extending transverse the doorway and comprising a plurality of sections, one of such sections being stationary and the other movable pix otally in relation thereto, the movable section being adapted to entirely support the gate when in folded position, means for normally forcing said two track sections into alinement, means for automatically moving the gate into closed position, means for automatically lockingthe gatein such closed position, means carried by the car for releasing said gate'locking'means when the elevator car reaches a predetermined position, means for latching the gate in" collapsed position and means for automatically releasing, said latch when the ele vator car movesbeyond said predetermined position.

5. In a gate, the combination with a gate,-

of a pair of levers, one of which has a pivotal connection at one of lts ends with a movable portion of the gate and the other has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with a relatively fixed point, the'ends of said levers opposite to the aforesaid pivotal connections being so disposed as to abut against one another and to have an intermedlate pivotal connectlon with each other, in combination with a helical contractile spring located at said intermediate connection, means supported solely on said levers for causing said spring to exert pressure to extend said levers, and means releasable by the movement of the elevator car to a predetermined position for automatically lock-.

ing one of said levers in extended position to lock the gate.

6. In a gate, the combination with a collapsible gate, of a pair of levers, one of which has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with a movable portion of the gate and the other has a pivotal connection at one'of its ends with'a relatively fixed point, the

ends of said levers opposite to the aforesaid pivotal comiections being so disposed as to abut against one another and to have an intermediate pivotal connection with each other, in combination with a helical contractile spring located at said intermediate connection, guides mounted solely upon said levers for causing said spring to exert pressure on both of said levers, a spring pressed lock-plate engaging one of said levers for automatically locking the same in extended position and means actuated by the movement of the car for releasing said lockplate to permit the gate to be collapsed.

7; In a gate, the combination with a collapsible gate, of a pair of levers, one of which has a pivotal connection at one or its ends with a movable portion of the gate and the other has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with a relatively fixed point, the ends of said levers opposite to the aforesaid pivotal connections being so-disposed as to abut against one another and to have an intermediate pivotal connection with each other, in combination with a spring located at said intermediate connection, guides mounted solely upon said levers-for causing said spring to exert a pulling force on said levers on opposite sides of said pivotal connection and a pushing force. at said connec-f tion, a spring pressed lock-plate engaging" one of said levers for automatically locking the same in extended position, means actu ing said lock-plate topermit the gate to be collapsed, means for latching the gate in collapsed position and automatic means actuated by the movement of the'ca'r 'for automatically releasing said latching means. 8. In a gate, the combination with a collapsible gate, of a pair of levers, one ofwhich has a pivotal connection at one of its 3 ends with a movable portion of the gate and the other has a pivotalc'onnection at one of its ends with a relatively fixed point, the ends" of said levers opposite to the aforesaid pivotal connections beingso disposed as to abut against one another and to have an intermediate pivotal connection with each ated by the movement of the car for releasgate to be collapsed, means for latching the gate in'collapsed position, means for normally releasing said latchlng means; means for mounting the gate to swing into fullopen position and means for preventing the actuation of said releasing means during the swingingmovement of the gate.

9. In a gate, the combination with a C01 lapsible gate, of a pair of levers, one of which has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with a movable portion of the gate and the other has a pivotal connection at one of its ends With a relatively fixed point, the ends of said levers opposite to the aforesaid pivotal connections being so disposed as to abut against one another and to have an intermediate pivotal connection with each other, in combination with a spring located at said intermediate connection, means for causing said spring to exert pressure to extend said levers, a spring pressed lock-plate engaging one of said levers for automatically locking the same in extended position, means actuated by the movement of the car for re leasing said lock-plate to permit the gate to be collapsed, means for latching the gate in collapsed position, means for normally releasing said latching means; means for mounting the gate to swing into full-open position; means for preventing the actuation of said releasing means during the swinging movement of the gate; means for latching the gate in full-open position; means for normally releasing said last mentioned latching means and means on the car for preventing the actuation of said releasing means during the stay of the car in a predetermined position.

10. In a gate, the combination with a collapsible gate, of a pair of levers, one of which has a pivotal connection at one of its ends with a movable portion of the gate and the abut against one another and to have an intermediate pivotal connection with each other, in combination with a spring located at said intermediate connection; means for causing said spring to exert pressure to extend said levers, a spring pressed lock-plate engaging one of said levers for automatically locking the same in extended position; means actuated by the movement of the car for releasing said lock-plate to permit the gate to be collapsed; means for latching the gate in collapsed position; means for normally releasing said latching means; means for mounting the gate to swing into fullopen position; means for preventing the actuation of said releasing means during the swinging movement of the gate; means for latching the gate in full-open position; means for normally releasing said last-mentioned latching means and spring pressed means on the car for preventing the actuation of said releasing means during the stay of the car in a predetermined position.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to the foregoing specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RAFFORD PITT.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM R. PITT, ELIZABETH G. BARRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

